Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Cumbria

Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to five children. The service provides a settled period of residential care, with a therapeutic emphasis and multi-agency involvement. The aim is to help children and young people recover from experiences which have rendered them vulnerable and disrupted their primary relationships.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been registered since August 2017. A new manager, who registered with Ofsted in August 2021, is currently completing her leadership and management qualification in residential care.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/09/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are treated with dignity and respect. Overall, they enjoy positive relationships with staff who have a clear understanding of their needs and the support they require. Care planning is highly individualised with clear expectations surrounding the practical and emotional support children require.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress at this home in many areas of their development. Most develop a good understanding their personal vulnerabilities and how to best keep themselves safe. Because of this, children are more resilient when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote healthy lifestyles. Children’s health needs are suitably prioritised and closely monitored throughout their time at the home. Most children receive support from the company’s therapeutic team, which works closely with staff and other health professionals to provide for children’s emotional and mental health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good opportunities to participate in a range of adventurous activities. Staff actively encourage their engagement in outdoor activities, but this is dependent on children’s individual motivation. Although some really flourish and enjoy the outdoor life, others prefer pursuits that are less active, such as music and craftwork.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational needs are supported within the context of their overriding need for safety. All children are encouraged to take part in an outdoor programme of activities alongside some curriculum-based study at the home. This helps to engage children back into learning and positively raises their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Educational progress can be slower for some children due to their lack of engagement with what the home can offer. However, for some who remain at the home longer than the initially agreed 17-week period, educational progress is good, with some children attending local schools or college, and others enjoying work experience placements in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children tend to be living a significant distance from their home area due to concerns for their safety prior coming to the home. Staff understand the importance for children to spend time with their family members. Staff facilitate and, when necessary, will supervise children’s visits to family members. Staff also welcome those family members who wish to visit the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views and wishes are well understood. Children have good opportunities to express these views, and they know that staff will listen to them. Children are encouraged to develop independent living skills that will help them as they move towards adulthood. Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 4

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Most children say they feel safe living at this home and feel fully supported by staff. However, despite staff efforts to reassure and promote children’s safety, one child said that she continued to feel vulnerable and unsafe. The child’s independent reviewing officer explained that this is a result of the distance from her own community and the lack of diversity where the home is located.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are encouraged to learn about those people and situations that can make them vulnerable and lead to their exploitation. Staff focus on educating children to recognise those situations that can compromise their safety and the strategies that can help them to stay safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Since the last inspection, there has been some increase in children going missing from the home and the use of restraint. Trends and patterns are understood by managers who have audited and evaluated incidents. These tend to involve a small number of children who have lived at the home since the last inspection and have since moved on. Managers have been proactive in sharing with staff lessons that were learned from reviewing incidents.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Records maintained in the home show that procedures have been fully followed when children go missing, and that staff have worked in close cooperation with police to ensure that children are returned quickly to the safety of the home. However, for some children, the safeguarding strategies proposed have been inappropriately recorded as sanctions, rather than measures to promote their safety.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Appropriate sanctions are relatively low in number and tend to focus on restorative solutions. However, records do not demonstrate that the effectiveness of sanctions are routinely considered as required by regulation. This is a monitoring opportunity that has been lost.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

During COVID-19, the home has implemented suitable measures to promote children’s safety and minimise the risk of infection in the home. These measures are also extended to visitors to the home to ensure that they stay safe and keep children and staff safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children and staff regularly take part in evacuation drills, and all are informed of the procedure to follow should alarms sound in the home. However, during this inspection, it was noted that staff do not routinely advise visitors of this procedure, or if a fire drill is to be expected. This failure has the potential to compromise a visitor’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed by a registered manager and deputy manager effectively. They work closely with several senior residential staff to ensure that the Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 5 home and its outreach properties run smoothly. Managers and staff know children well and share a clear understanding of children’s needs and vulnerabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they are well supported and feel valued by all the managers within the organisation. Staff voiced considerable satisfaction in a change made to the home’s staff rota system that means they now work two full days and have four days off. This not only provides children with a good continuity of care but also provides staff with a good work-life balance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a comprehensive induction when they join the company and feel further supported by the opportunities provided for their ongoing training and personal development. Regular professional supervision and regular opportunities for reflective discussion is the norm in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite the issues identified during this inspection, internal monitoring and regular auditing practice are a strength of this home, allowing the manager to focus on where key developments are required. External monitoring reports do not yet reflect strength in the scrutiny of the home by the independent person as children, parents and professionals are not routinely consulted for their views. This was raised at the home’s last inspection and has not yet been achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records are mostly very well maintained and comprehensive. However, some of the language used in children’s records, such as ‘absconding’, is stigmatising and is inappropriately used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has established good working together practices with social workers and a range of other valued professionals. Social workers and other professionals speak very highly of the home and the support children receive. One social worker commented, ‘They have made immense progress with him, a complete 180 degrees turn. He’s had no missing incidents, and I speak to him and see him regularly. Staff support has been instrumental in achieving this. He has had excellent practical and emotional support.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of a fire. (Regulation 25(1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, make sure that visitors working at the home are aware of the arrangements should the fire alarm sound. 15 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)) 15 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44(1) (2)(a)) 15 March 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and supports children to balance safety with making appropriate choices. This relates specifically to ensuring that planned safeguarding strategies that are to be implemented when a child has returned from being missing from the home are Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 7 not recorded or presented as sanctions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This includes avoiding language that may stigmatise children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stoneybeck, Bowscar, Penrith CA11 8RP

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2526921 9 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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